Falls

I'm probably supposed to say something about the Super Bowl, but I can't say much more than "I didn't watch it." Sorry.

This past week Joe came for his weekend, and it was a blast. I forget when I'm away from him for so long how much fun I have with him when we're together. We didn't do anything spectacular: we watched movies and went to breakfast with a friend of mine from work and walked around an antique's mall and went to a show with my family. But we laughed a lot, talked a lot, and, for a few days, got to have the "normal dating relationship" that we miss out on most of the time since we live so far apart.

He was supposed to fly in on Wednesday morning, and, being an employee of the airline, he gets to fly for free if he flies stand-by. Basically he gets whatever seat is left over on a flight, if there's a seat to be had. Otherwise he gets bumped back to the next flight if they have a seat available. It's all very up-in-the-air. No pun intended. :) Well, if you were paying attention to the news early last week, you'll remember the hubbub that was made over "White Death" that would knock out civilization as we knew it all along the Eastern US. The National Guard was called in to keep the looters at bay when New York City was expecting seventy-four feet of snow, whole states went into "emergency mode," and the rest of the country waited in nail-biting silence to see what was left after the storm wreaked its havoc.

I exaggerate, but hey, so did the weathermen.

While the devastation wasn't nearly as bad as the news made it out to be, the precautions at the airport where Joe works - and was supposed to leave from on Wednesday - meant cancelling flights and bumping Tuesday flights back to Wednesday, potentially filling all the available seats that he could use. I woke up on Tuesday to a text from him that said he wasn't saying he wouldn't make it, but he was saying it wasn't likely. But we both agreed to ask for God's will in this situation, as we had every other time he flew on stand-by.

I could say that I was the "gallant girlfriend" and was strong for my guy, putting on the stiff upper lip and saying through a genuine smile, "God will take care of this in His time and way." I was encouraging in my texts to him; I didn't want him to feel bad, and I certainly didn't want him to think I was disappointed in him. Because I wasn't - what's reliable where the weather is concerned? But when I got to work that afternoon, I was explaining the situation to a friend of mine, and she wrapped me in a hug because she could tell I was disappointed. I hadn't seen him in two months, and I had been so excited to be with him again, and the thought of putting off seeing him for another two weeks sucked. Granted, nothing was set in stone at that point: he said that he would know for sure some time that evening. But I am a champion worrier. We could go as far as to say I am a pessimist. And I take "expecting the worst" to a whole new level as I act like the worst has already happened. But after I moped around for a little while, I remembered that our God had made our visits happen up to that point. The last time his flights were delayed so long that we were driving to the airport at midnight to pick him up. But they happened. And we believed that, if God wanted us to happen, He would make it happen.

Long story short, the flights did work out, and he actually made it to Dayton a few hours earlier than we had originally expected. And we praised our God that His will had worked out in our favor.

His journey home turned into a seventeen-hour commute after he wasn't able to get on one flight, flew to a different airport than he originally expected, had to sit around an airport for four hours, took a two-hour shuttle ride, and drove half an hour until he was finally home - all the while both of us praying for God's will to be done. And, though I think we both secretly hoped that His will would play out in Joe's favor, God's will was done. And at the end of it, we were both reminded of His power, the reliability of His plan - regardless of weather and desires and game plans.

We've been talking a lot about logistics of our relationship, specifically with "we can't keep living eleven hours apart if we want to take this any further." And while we talk through the different options and create hypothetical scenarios and say, "Well, this would be the best plan," we forget that there already is a plan. I don't necessarily believe that God orders every single thing that happens to us, like what you'll have for lunch or if you'll take your umbrella on what turns out to be the rainiest day of the year. But I believe that everything works out in a way that ultimately wraps into the story that God is telling about and through the human experience. Everything that happens to us, I think, is an opportunity for us to learn about the way our God works, and how, even in a world riddled by disaster and evil and disappointment, He is showing His power to us in a way that turns our praise and our attention back to Him.

Shit happens. Weather complicates things. People frustrate us. But things work out. And when they do, it's our responsibility to see them not as our own victories, but our God's foresight and ordering.